In recent years, optical disks have received attention, as recording mediums that can store video data and audio data. The optical disk is used, not only as a medium used for a contents commodity such as a movie, but also as a writable medium used for recording data on the user side. For example, the DVD standard that allows onetime recording of data onto one and the same area, the DVD-RW standard that allows rewriting data repetitively, and so forth are known, as the rewritable medium. The DVD-Video standard used for a reproduce-only disk is known, as the file format of the above-described optical mediums. However, data can be written onto the writable medium in keeping with the DVD-Video standard.
The DVD-Video standard allows recording to a maximum of ninety nine titles per disk. Further, each of the titles can include to a maximum of ninety-nine chapters (PTT: Part of Title). In the case where data is recorded onto the above-described DVD-R and DVD-RW through a camcorder: camera and recorder, a single recording unit from the start of recording to the end of recording is recorded, as a chapter. Further, the single recording unit is recorded, as one and the same title until predetermined condition is satisfied. The predetermined condition for closing the title is, for example, that the disk is ejected, the number of chapters of the title reaches ninety-nine, the number of cells of the title reaches ninety-nine, the transition from video recording to still-image recording occurs, etc.
In the case where the data that is recorded on a chapter-by-chapter basis in the above-described manner is reproduced, a display image is interrupted for a moment due to a minute gap that occurs between chapters. In average, the recording unit of the camcorder is about from a little over ten seconds to several tens of seconds. It is not desirable that a reproduced image is interrupted for each recording unit.
Therefore, there have been proposed technologies for achieving seamless connection that allows connecting video streams to one another without no interruptions to be seen therebetween (For example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-155131 (FIG. 25).).
According to the above-described known technology, where partial sections of a video object are coupled to one another, a VOBU including picture data at the end of the partial section and a VOBU including picture data at the leading end of the same are read from an optical disk, and the VOBUs are divided into a plurality of audio packs and a plurality of video packs. Then, the video packs are re-encoded and part of the plurality of audio packs is multiplexed into a subsequent section. That is to say, an output stream must be remultiplexed.
On the other hand, the MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 2) standard is used, in the case where video encoding is performed for performing recording compliant with the DVD-Video standard. According to the MPEG-2 standard, however, a virtual buffer referred to as a VBV (refer to Video Buffering Verifier: ISO13818-2 Annex C) is expected to be provided between an encoder and a decoder, and encoding must be performed so that no errors occur in the VBV buffer. When trying to achieve the seamless connection between video streams that are separately encoded, the data of a following chapter is transmitted to the VBV buffer without consideration of the occupied amount of a preceding chapter of the VBV buffer. Subsequently, an error may occur in the VBV buffer.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a video-encoding device for achieving seamless connection between chapters without causing an error in the VBV buffer.